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Here is another Roman Catholic priest denigrating the office of Protestant pastor by claiming we have no scriptural warrant to serve in the role of presbyteros (pastor or priest), episkopos (bishop), as described in the New Testament; but are merely shepherds without authority. Implied, but not stated, is that Pprotestants don't have churches, but are only local assemblies according to Roman Catholic doctrine. Respectfully, on these subjects, the Roman Catholic Church does not accurately reflect the teaching of the New Testament or the practice of the first and early second century church. The New Testament does not teach a medieval sacramental system of “Holy Orders” in which bishops, priests, and deacons form a sacerdotal hierarchy possessing a unique power to mediate grace through the sacraments. That is not apostolic Christianity. It is later ecclesiastical development that is being read back into the New Testament—a textbook anachronism. In the New Testament, presbyteros and episkopos are used in overlapping ways. Elders are overseers. Overseers shepherd the flock. Paul can summon the Ephesian elders and then tell them that the Holy Spirit has made them overseers to shepherd the church of God. That is not the later Roman structure of bishop, priest, and deacon as distinct grades of sacramental holy orders. Nor does the New Testament teach a ministerial priesthood that stands between Christ and his people. Christ alone is the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). Christ alone is the great high priest who offered himself once for all and now intercedes for his people at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 4:14–16; 7:23–28; 10:11–14). The church as a whole is a royal priesthood, called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:5–6). Ministers do have real authority, but it is ministerial, not sacerdotal. They preach the Word, administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper, shepherd souls, and exercise discipline under the authority of Christ and Scripture (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 20:28; Eph. 4:11–12; 1 Tim. 3:1–7; 2 Tim. 4:1–2; Titus 1:5–9; Heb. 13:17). They do not stand as sacrificing priests who mediate saving grace by virtue of an ontological change conferred through holy orders. Christ is the priest. Christ is the sacrifice. Christ is the mediator. Christian ministers are servants and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1).. Protestant pastors have spiritual authority because Christ gives pastors and teachers to his church. Their authority does not depend on an allegedly unbroken chain of episcopal hands. It depends on fidelity to the apostolic gospel, something Roman Catholicism has too often buried beneath layers of tradition, sacramentalism, priestly mediation, and ecclesiastical claims that obscure the simplicity and sufficiency of Christ. A minister who faithfully preaches the Word, administers the ordinances Christ instituted, shepherds the flock, and guards the apostolic doctrine has real authority under Christ. Apostolic succession, rightly understood, is succession in apostolic doctrine. A man may have hands laid on him by a hundred bishops, but if he corrupts the gospel, his succession is only institutional, not apostolic. So no, when you call a Protestant pastor “pastor,” you are not merely being polite. You are acknowledging, however unwillingly, that Christ continues to shepherd his church through men called to preach his Word and care for his flock. And for Protestants, the same principle applies when we refer to a Roman Catholic priest as “Father.” We may use the title as a courtesy, but that does not mean we accept Rome’s doctrine of a sacerdotal priesthood or submit to that priest’s spiritual authority. Personally, I reject the titles “priest” and “Father” as formal ministerial titles because they reflect later ecclesiastical development and can obscure the New Testament pattern. Christ alone is our great high priest. Ministers are pastors, elders, overseers, teachers, servants, and stewards of the mysteries of God. It's important to always remember that Rome did not create the ministry. Christ did.